In case you were shut off from the world in the past few hours, the new moon was not sighted at any of the four sites around Brunei. As a result, Muslims in Brunei Darussalam would fast tomorrow, Wednesday 1 October, completing a 30-day month.
I received a few sms’es asking me if I would be interested to buy second-hand telescopes from the Survey Department. This obviously referred to the unsighting of new moon in Brunei for the past few Ramadhans and Syawals!
Lets take the last opportunity to enjoy the benefits and blessings of Ramadhan.
I received this from one of my colleagues. Apparently, Brunei lies in the blue area and the new moon may be visible later in the evening, if conditions are perfect (no clouds or no rains).
Hari Raya Aidilfitri will determined on the evening of Tuesday 30 September. The moonsighting will take place at various places around Brunei Darussalam. According to calculations, it is likely that the new moon will be sighted, provided that it does not raining during the moonsighting. Regardless, I do not mind whatever day Aidilfitri falls on.
One group of people who are busy in the last days of Ramadhan are tailors and dressmakers. I went to pick my Baju Melayu at this tailor place in KB and I was informed that the shop would remain open until the early hours of the morning in order to complete the orders of dresses and baju melayu. The owner was confident that all orders would be completed before Raya comes
In just a matter of hours, this piece of cloth will turn into a complete set of Baju Melayu.
What is that camouflage doing there?
The entrepreneur of the dressmaking shop in KB, with his brother.
Today marks the Golden Jubilee of Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddin. Opened on 26 September 1958 by the late Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III, the mosque was on the building under Brunei’s First National Development Plan. At that time, it cost almost BND8 million to build, using the best materials from all over the world. The marble was imported from Italy and the stained glass and the chandelier from the United Kingdom. When it was opened, more than 5000 faithful turned up to perform the first prayer to be held there, the Jumaat prayer. My father once told me that because there were too many people and too little place for ablution, many people actually performed the Friday prayer without having taken their ablution!
In conjunction with the Golden Jubilee, the Postal Services Department issued commerative stamps and first day covers. I managed to get three sets which I gave to my dad. There was this special issue stamp worth BND50; I was considering to buy it, but decided against it as I am not an avid collector of stamps myself and neither is my dad.
There was also an event today that took place before Friday prayer, which His Majesty the Sultan attended. More events are being organised, including the opening of a gallery on the mosque at the Brunei Museum and a photography competition.
Read more about the Golden Jubilee celebration here.
Barely a month passed since the entire world was mesmerised by China when it successfully organised the 2008 Summer Olympics, the world has been once again rocked by another health scare involving China-made products. The world was once shaken by lead-contaminated paints that had been used in children’s toys.
The latest food scandal involved dairy products which are tainted by the industrial chemical, melamine. Melamine is used for the manufacture of plastics and when one thinks of melamine, one would immediately think about plastic cups and plates. Melamine has been added to milk to artificially raise its protein content. As a result, so far four children have been reported to have died by melamine poisoning while many hundred babies were reported to have developed kidney stones. It was quite shocking to learn that many large corporations, including one that sponsored the 2008 Olympics, were involved in the scandal. The scandal was first confined within China, but eventually spread to other parts of the world. Many countries, Brunei included, have banned and removed any Chinese dairy products from their shops.
I have received many emails, advising me to avoid some products and the list gets longer everyday. Some of the better-known brands have their products made in China and this caused a confusion when the same-brand, but made in other countries, have been ‘declared’ to be dnagerous. My advice is go check the country where the product was made and do not buy it if it was made in China.
Among one of the items affected by the scandal is the White Rabbit Soft Candy. This used to be one of my vices, but now I think I have to avoid it until the Chinese Government sort this scandal out.
Will we ever get our confidence back with Chinese products?
Quite disappointed to see that Papz did not put this other group picture where the girls were not looking at the camera, rather they were distracted by someone’s buns in front of them!!
A friend on Facebook started this series of pictures, taken in the 1990’s. As much as I feel a bit embarrassed to show them, but, as someone said it, we need to embrace at our past. And also, it can be quite therapeutic to be able to look back and have a laugh at ourselves.
The pictures were taken using film cameras and then scanned. So please forgive me for their quality.
So here they are…….
The above two pictures were taken 17 June 1995 at Seasons Restaurant. Apparently it was a farewell dinner for three friends who were supposed to leave and study in Boston. I was wearing that brown/red shirt with that big spectacles.
The two pictures above were taken on 16 August 1995 at the Rimba site of Maktab Sains. They were taken when we had this farewell bbq for everyone who would be leaving to further their studies. The strange thing was this farewell took place in the evening in a school campus and no one else seemed to recall this event at all!
This was taken in Hyde Park London on 28 October 1995. If I am not mistaken, this was our first weekend in London, after being sent to our respective schools. It was actually nice to see everyone and to share all the stories from our schools. I was seated fifth from the left.
Our first ever Majlis Berziarah with the Royal Family at the Intercontinental Hotel London on 22 December 1995. We all got GBP150 and we probably spent them all during the Boxing Day sale 4 days later!
And I am saving the best for last! This picture was taken on 9 October 1991 (I was only 15 years old then!!) during the prize presentation ceremony for an essay writing competition. I won second place and won some books of stamps. In case you don’t know it yet, I was wearing a songkok with that spectacles and THAT moustache!! Yeah, I was growing moustache at that age! I think it was Jester who said he would hunt down a picture of me with glasses and moustache, after a joke went too far! So Jest, here you go!!
Many thanks to Nuurol Bahyiah Ahmad for these pictures.
With just less than two weeks to go before Hari Raya comes, the above will definitely in everyone’s (well, everyone who celebrates Raya, that is) mind.
All I could say is, spend wisely and think about the days before the next pay day! There aren’t just that many open houses to go to!
The above two pictures were taken 17 June 1995 at Seasons Restaurant. Apparently it was a farewell dinner for three friends who were supposed to leave and study in Boston. I was wearing that brown/red shirt with that big spectacles.
Many thanks to Nuurol Bahyiah Ahmad for these pictures.
Bulgemeister 